Additions
by Nifoi
Summary: Three toddlers are found in an eerie forest by a pair of Akatsuki members. When they are brought to base, they are decided to be kept. Thus, begins the humorous journey of the S-rank criminals to raise the three children into beautiful killers. AU, kinda/ Rated T for Hidan's mouth
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Additions

**Fandom: **Naruto

**Type: **Multi-chapter story

**Rated: **PG13

**Word Count: **3, 592

**Summary: **Three toddlers are found in an eerie forest by a pair of Akatsuki members. When they are brought to base, they are decided to be kept. Thus, begins the humorous journey of the S-rank criminals to raise the three children into beautiful killers. AU, kinda

**A/N : **God, this is the third time I'm writing the first chapter of this story again (**Originally named 'Love Is Complicated'**). Well for those who read **Skirts & Shoes, Pants & Punches, **you should know I'm already done with the latest chapter, it's just that my beta-reader, **Nonumaru, **hasn't been replying to my emails. I can't post it unless if it's beta-read. :/

This was originally a love story, but I've decided to change it into a heart-warming humor story instead. I hope it's funny, though. xD More comments are at the end of the chapter.

…

_.._

_._

"_Those who educate children are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well." - Aristotle_

_._

_.._

…

The sky was dark and the moon reflected the sun's rays in a glaring white light, glimmering beautifully on the rustling trees as they danced to the wind. Moonlight seeped through the branches and leaves and formed tiny patches of light on the path leading through the forest. Brown, fallen leaves crunched and turned to dust as the two men passing through subconsciously stepped on them.

An owl watched, with its big yellow eyes, as the duo in notorious Akatsuki cloaks made their way through the forest.

Kisame towered over his partner, carrying his huge, heavy and bandaged sword over his shoulder. His eyes frequently darted around to sense if there was a dangerous presence around them, and so far, there were none.

Itachi was quiet. His dark eyes stared at the path ahead of them and he did not show any signs of worry or caution. However, his calm demeanor belied his high awareness for anyone or anything that wasn't supposed to be near them.

The two men had just returned from a backbreaking mission and were eager to return to base. It would be tiring to use the usual route as it would take more energy than they currently had, so the two mentally agreed to take a shortcut.

The shortcut required them to go through a thick and quiet forest with no birds or animals except owls, crows and ravens. The eerie woods were infamous for its silent and random assassinations and it was rare for anybody to be walking along its path.

Although it would be advisable to run, the two men were tired and walked at a steady pace. Itachi, being a confident and skilled man, was sure they could easily escape an assassination attempt.

Kisame was eager to start a conversation, but after knowing his partner for some time, he knew speaking would prove no use, unless if it involved Pein or Akatsuki matters.

About ten minutes into walking, Itachi, who was a few steps further from his partner, stopped.

Noticing this, Kisame frowned and stopped walking as well, "What's wrong?"

The raven-haired man did not listen, nor did his expression change. They stayed still for another two minutes, until Kisame finally heard it.

"Laughter," The blue-haired man said, staring ahead of them as it was the direction from where the sounds were coming from, "Should we continue? What if those bastards are trying to distract us?"

"Which is why we should proceed with caution," Itachi simply replied, taking another step forward before the laughter came again. With hesitance, he started walking towards the sound whereas his partner eventually started following him.

After a while, they finally saw dark figures from afar.

Itachi could see them clearly, and although he was surprised, he didn't show it on his face. The two men stopped not so close to the figures and Kisame squinted, unable to identify the presence a few meters away from them as it was rather dark.

Laughter quickly changed into crying and the blue-skinned man finally realized what he was looking at.

"Holy shit," He breathed out, surprised, "Are those kids?"

Itachi ignored Kisame's question and continued walking, "Let's hurry and get back to base. We need to inform Leader-sama about our accomplishment as soon as possible. I also need to rest."

"I need to rest, too, but…" Kisame's sentence faded as they approached the youngsters, which he had counted to be at least three girls, "Are we just gonna leave them here?"

His partner did not reply. The three kids, located underneath a big, thick and shady tree by the shoulder of the path, stopped moving. The thickness of the tree's leaves blocked out any moonlight from seeping through, thus the men were unable to study the appearance of the girls hiding in the shadows.

One of them was sobbing.

Kisame initially thought Itachi was going to at least talk to the girls, but he was surprised when his partner simply walked past the youngsters.

He clamped a hand on the Uchiha heir's shoulder, "Hey, you aren't gonna just leave them here, are you?" Itachi stared at him, silent, and Kisame frowned, "I'm not as cold-hearted as you, you know. We should at least take the time to send them to their homes."

"We have no business with them," The stoic man coldly said, "It's their guardians' fault for being careless enough to have them wander into this deadly forest. I don't intend to waste any more of my energy or time, either."

"At least, let me talk to them," The tall man let go of Itachi's shoulder and turned towards the girls in the dark, "Hey there! Do you three know where you are?"

There was some silence before they received a reply.

"No, we don't," The voice belonged to a young girl, confirming the men's suspicions. Her voice was quiet but revealed some confidence, "Can you tell us where we are?"

"It's dangerous here," Kisame chuckled, comforted by the sound of a child, "Would you like to go home? I could take you back to your village."

"We don't know where we're from," This voice came from another girl.

The blue-skinned man raised an eyebrow and glanced at his partner. Itachi was already looking at Kisame, and he knew it was Itachi's way of saying, 'What…the…hell?'

"Okay, do you know which clan you girls are from?" Kisame asked next, hoping it would ring a bell to where they originated.

"No, sir," This other voice was incredibly soft and fragile.

Now, the two Akatsuki members were truly confused. How could three young children end up in a notorious forest far from any village?

Kisame was at a loss for words when he noticed movement in the dark. The three girls were approaching them. Eventually, they stepped out of the shadows and the moonlight kissed their skin and hair—revealing they looked no older than seven.

There were three girls. One of them was a blonde with piercing blue eyes. She looked up at Kisame, who towered over them like a building. "I'm Ino," She introduced herself with a small smile.

"I'm Sakura," The girl with unique features—pink hair and pale-green eyes—said next. She held the hand of her friend, who had purplish-black hair and gray eyes, "This is Hinata."

Itachi noticed trails of tears along Hinata's cheeks. It was her who was crying and sobbing. Apparently, she had stopped both actions but a single tear was rolling down her cheek and she still looked as though she was upset.

"Why is Hinata crying?" Kisame asked with a grin, putting down his massive sword and kneeling before patting the ravenette on the head, "Did somebody do something bad to you?"

"I-Ino…" She sputtered, burying her face in her hands. She tried to say something else, but they were incoherent and she eventually started crying and sobbing again.

"What did Ino do?" Kisame frowned slightly and glanced at Sakura, softly wrapping his arms around Hinata as she continued to cry. Hinata accepted his hug and cried on his shoulder.

"Ino accidentally kicked Hinata when we were playing," Sakura explained, glancing at her blonde friend.

"It was an accident, alright?" The azure-eyed girl defended herself.

"But you didn't say sorry yet," The pink-haired girl flashed a small smile.

Ino folded her arms, pouted and looked away as though she was too proud to apologize.

Sakura sighed and shook her head. Then, she looked up at Itachi, whose emotionless expression intrigued her. "Hi," She squeaked, noticing how handsome the stranger in front of her was, "I'm Sakura."

"I know that," For the first time in a long time, Itachi's lips tugged upwards, "Could you tell me how you ended up here? Just like my friend said, it's very dangerous to be here."

"Well…we woke up about twenty minutes ago," Sakura's lips formed an unsure frown as she scratched her head, "Ino, Hinata and I walked for a while before we decided to rest under this big tree. Then, we started playing and Ino accidentally kicked Hinata's leg."

"You don't remember where you're from or which clan you're from?" Kisame raised an eyebrow as Hinata started to calm down. She blushed as he released her from his embrace.

"Sorry…we don't really remember anything a lot about ourselves," Hinata mumbled, looking at her feet as she was too shy to respond to Kisame's puckish grin. She wiped her damp cheeks and continued, "But we remember each other and the fact we're best friends. That's why we started playing."

"How old are you?" Itachi asked.

"We're eight-years-old," Ino replied.

The two men made eye contact and exchanged unsure glances.

"How do you feel about coming home with us, then?" Kisame asked.

Ino frowned, "I don't think we're supposed to do that."

"Don't worry," The blue-haired man assured with a smirk, "We have a female friend back at home. Her name is Konan. She'll be happy to feed you girls," At this point, he patted Hinata's head and the grin returned to his face, "Besides, after crying, you must be really hungry, aren't you?"

The girls remained quiet and the humanoid shark glanced up at Itachi to seek his approval. Itachi stared at Kisame, then Sakura, then Ino, then Hinata, and back to Kisame. He sighed at the hope flickering the young girls' eyes. He knew they were as tired and as hungry as they were.

"Fine," Was all he managed to say.

…

_.._

_._

"_Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me." – Fred Rogers_

_._

_.._

…

Pein stared with disapproval in his ringed eyes as Kisame gently put three sleeping girls onto the sofa.

"The mission went well, Leader-sama," Itachi said, mantaining his stoic expression as he proceeded to walk towards his room to take a bath.

"That's good, but who are they?" Pein asked, his face neutral.

Kisame watched with amusement as Itachi stopped and stared at their leader. Both men were stolid and emotionless, so it was funny to the blue-haired man to see them talk to each other.

"Ask Kisame," Itachi proceeded to walk away as Deidara and Kakuzu walked into the living room of their base, connected to the kitchen.

Deidara didn't really react much when he saw the girls asleep on the sofa. He raised an eyebrow but didn't seem all too surprised as he walked past Pein and took a carton of milk from the fridge, "Who are those girls, yeah?"

As he drank from the carton, Kakuzu watched with contempt, both at the youngsters _and_ Deidara. Kakuzu wanted to drink that milk, too. But he couldn't now. Deidara had contaminated it.

Just then, Konan walked in and widened her amber eyes when she saw the girls. "Oh my God," She said, shocked, "Where did they come from?"

"Found them at _that _forest," Kisame replied.

Deidara choked on his milk and stared at the blue-haired man incredulously. "_Seriously? _Even some of _our _member got killed there! What would three first-graders be doing in the middle of… _that?"_

"Don't ask me," The tall man shrugged, looking around only to realize Itachi had disappeared. He glanced at Konan, who was approaching the girls, "They don't know where they're from or what clan they belong in, so I decided to bring them here."

Konan kneeled down and put her hand on Sakura's forehead.

"Their names are Sakura, Ino and Hinata," Kisame informed her, sitting down on a small space on the sofa next to the girls. He put his hand on Hinata's hair—she had become his personal favorite, "Poor girls. Itachi wanted to leave them to die but I wasn't as cold-hearted."

Konan was silent for a while.

"Hinata just finished crying, so she must be starving," The azure-skinned man said, "Sakura and Ino should be quite hungry, too."

He pushed himself off the sofa and started walking away, his gigantic sword over his shoulder. Soon, he disappeared into the hallways leading to his room.

"Konan, I see no purpose in keeping them," Pein approached the blue-haired woman, a mug of coffee in hand.

"We're not going to _keep _them, we're going to _raise _them," Konan smiled, looking up at the pierced man, "I think it's a good idea to raise them into maginificent Akatsuki members. Not only that, we could add in more female members for once in a while."

"Konan, please, I don't want three children running around and spilling our precious milk and jumping on our beds," Pein massaged the bridge of his nose, "We have like…three babies already. Deidara, Hidan and Tobi are so hard to handle."

The beauty giggled and stood up just as the youngsters started to regain consciousness. "Don't be like that, Pein," She gave him a winsome smile, "Besides, let me be their mother. All you boys have to do is train them so they'll be skilled and worthy to be a part of the Akatsuki."

"You should know me well enough to know I disapprove of both ideas."

"I really want to raise them," Konan stuck with her choice before looking over her shoulder to glance at the now-conscious girls. They were looking around in wonder and the amber-eyed woman continued, "I'll finally have an aim in life, which is to watch them grow," She faced the leader and stared into his ringed orbs, "Give them a chance, Pein. Please."

Sasori walked into the base. He froze when he saw the three strangers but his emotionless expression remained the same. He turned on his heel and disappeared into the hallway.

Hidan entered and greeted Kakuzu with a few vulgar words. When he saw Deidara, the two immediately began to argue. Pein sighed, closed his eyes and took a sip of his coffee.

"You make the rules, Konan," He said after gulping down his drink, "Like you said, all we have to do is train them. Their basic needs are all on you."

"I've never heard a thing such as a guy being a mother," Konan giggled. As Pein walked towards the kitchen to put his empty cup in the sink _and _to break up the petty argument Deidara and Hidan were having, the blue-haired woman fell silent as she organized everything in her mind to ensure comfortable lives for the three girls.

"Excuse me," Something tugged on her sleeve and Konan looked down to see what had interrupted her from her train of thought. It was the blonde—otherwise known as Ino, and she stared at her with her big azure eyes, "Are you…Konan? Are you that lady that weird shark thingy told us about?"

A giggle escaped the beauty's lips as she patted Ino's head, "Yes, yes, I am, dear. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am," Ino's face brightened, "Sakura and Hinata would like to eat, too."

Konan glanced over her shoulder and saw Pein had already broken up the ridiculous fight between the bomber and the Jashinist. "Okay, get your friends and follow me to the kitchen."

Soon, the three youngsters were eating cereal (for that was the only thing Konan could think of) around the dining table next to the kitchen. As Konan watched them eat, Hidan approached her and grimaced.

"Oh Jashin, why did we have to go get three fucking bitches as the latest addition to the organization?" Hidan cursed, walking away, "I thought Tobi was enough to satisfy your mother-ing needs."

Konan rolled her eyes and proceeded with her planning. Just a few seconds later she reached a conclusion and snapped her fingers. She exited the dining room and looked around the base for Pein, before learning he was at the sofa, reading a book.

"I've finally come up with a plan," She announced, plopping down next to him at the four-seater sofa, "Could you call all the members? Except Itachi and Kisame, that is."

Pein, slightly displeased he was interrupted from his reading, soon summoned all the members of the Akatsuki (except Itachi and Kisame) to the living room. The men crowded the living room with confused faces. For those who have not seen Sakura, Ino and Hinata, they had no idea for those girls were eating in the dining room.

"Okay, earlier tonight, our members found three little girls in…_that _forest," Konan said. Tobi jumped and looked as though he was going to ask a question, but the blue-haired woman quickly continued before he could say anything, "And I've decided to keep them. Their names are Sakura, Ino and Hinata. They've lost their memory and are only eight-years-old."

Hidan said a few bad words before Konan continued, "I'm going to be their mother, so that means I've got too much on my plate to train them to be worthy S-rank criminals. So, I've decided to divide you boys into different groups to train them."

The men exchanged glances. Konan (being the only woman in the organization) was a strange an unpredictable person so nobody knew what she had up her sleeve, "Pein, Sasori and Itachi will be assigned to train Sakura. Zetsu, Kakuzu and Deidara will be training Ino. Hinata is given to Hidan, Kisame and Tobi."

Muttering and groans came from the men as a sign of dissatisfaction. Konan smirked and folded her arms, "As you can see, I haven't paired you up with your original partners. The aim of this is not only to give the girls a variety of techniques and skills from different people, but to also make sure all of you get along and work together."

"I am _so _fucking lucky I didn't get paired up with _Baby Alive _over there," Hidan smirked.

Deidara glared at the silver-haired man, "It's _Barbie, _not _Baby Alive, _you fucking dumbass. And I'm _neither _of them."

"Barbie, Baby Alive, they both look like you to me," Hidan shrugged.

"Shut up," Kakuzu growled, for everyone knew this was the start to another stupid yet destructive argument, "Or I'll have to kill the both of you right now."

The two fell silent and looked away with groans.

Just then, Ino ran into the living room, giggling, and Sakura was behind her. Her pink hair was dripping with milk and bits of cereal were scattered on her hair and shoulders as she chased after the blonde.

"Ino!" She shrieked, catching up with her azure-eyed friend.

Hinata walked in just as the other two started running in circles. Her shirt was soaked and her hands were sticky with milk.

"Fuck, don't tell me they took all the milk," Kakuzu mumbled. Anger quietly flared inside him.

"Sorry…but the carton is empty…"Hinata apologetically said as she blushed, embarrassed her clothes were wet, "Ino's such a bully…she poured the milk over me and put Sakura's bowl upside down on her head."

Ino ran happily past the feet of the towering men, until someone caught her by the collar of her shirt. Kakuzu lifted her up and glared at the child, "_Girl, _you should know that as long as _you _are under _my _supervision, you will not goof off and waste our precious milk."

Pein, upon hearing the fact they had no more milk, moved into severe depression and released a dark miasma.

"I'll go take Sakura and Hinata to take a bath," Konan sighed as Ino stuck her tongue out at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu put down the blonde and she kicked him at the shin before running off to follow Konan. Silence fell upon the men—usually they would await orders from Pein to leave the base and go into their rooms.

However, noticing the depressing miasma he emitted, Zetsu spoke, "…**I'm going back to my orchard.**"

With that, he disappeared.

One by one, the members left the living room, leaving Pein to mourn alone for the finishing of the milk.

…

_.._

_._

"_While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."__ - Angela Schwindt_

_._

_.._

…

**A/N : **I'm writing this story when I'm free from writing **Skirts & Shoes, Pants & Punches. **Do review about what you think so far of this story and (if you're a fan of my earlier mentioned story) please tell me if I should continue and post the latest chapter without **Nonumaru. **

It's been a week since I've last sent my email to her. :/

Reviews = Love = Author's Inspiration = Faster Updates


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Additions

**Fandom: **Naruto

**Type: **Multi-chapter story

**Rated: **PG13

**Word Count: **3, 776

**Summary: **Three toddlers are found in an eerie forest by a pair of Akatsuki members. When they are brought to base, they are decided to be kept. Thus, begins the humorous journey of the S-rank criminals to raise the three children into beautiful killers. AU, kinda

**A/N : **Hello everybody! Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! I'm so happy ;_;

Anyway, enjoy this chapter everyone!

…

_.._

_._

_Children make your life important -_Erma Bombeck

_._

_.._

…

Konan allowed the three girls into her bedroom.

As the girls hopped onto the large, queen-sized bed at the far right of the square room, the blue-haired woman approached her wardrobe. She opened a wardrobe door and flipped through the black clothing.

"You have a really nice room," Hinata commented, looking around.

The walls of the large square room were painted light brown with a hint of peach. The floor was cold, dark grey concrete.

Upon entering, Konan's white-sheeted bed was on the far right whereas opposite the bed was her wardrobe. Next to the wardrobe was a full-length mirror. There was another door in the room besides the exit—the bathroom.

"Thank you, Hinata," Konan smiled to herself as she closed the wardrobe door to proceed to the other one. She went through the clothes, folded and neatly-stacked in the larged closet.

"What're you doing, Konan-sama?" Sakura asked as Ino buried herself in the fluffy white sheets.

"I'm looking for shirts or dresses small enough for you girls," Konan released a sigh as she closed the wardrobe door, "Apparently I've already thrown out all of my clothes which were too small to fit me. I'll have to go and buy some for you girls tomorrow," She glanced over her shoulder, an apologetic smile on her face, "Is it okay if you girls stay in those garments until tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, sure," Sakura nodded, a smile on her cute face, "Although I don't think Hinata could. Her clothes are soaked. Anyway, thank you so much, Konan-sama."

"You're very welcome," Konan turned back to the wardrobe and crouched down to open a drawer. She pulled out three white towels and handed them out to the trio on her bed, "Here you go, girls. Take a bath."

Ino jumped off the bed and bolted for the bathroom door, "I'm going first!"

Konan managed to grab the blonde by her collar, "Oh no you don't, little troublemaker! You've made your two friends sticky with milk, so _they _should take a bath first!"

Ino pouted. Sakura's lips parted into an impish grin as the blue-eyed girl returned to the bed, defeated.

"Who should go first?" Konan asked.

"Hinata should," Sakura was still grinning, "The milk was poured all over her body. I got milk in my hair, only. So she should go first," Her pale-green eyes met Hinata's grey ones, "Besides, Hinata's the type who only takes five minutes to clean herself up."

"Thank you, Sakura," Hinata was grateful for her friend's kindness and entered the bathroom. The door behind her shut close and clicked when she locked it.

As the faint buzzing sound of the shower came on, Konan sat on the bed, next to Sakura. Sakura's pastel-pink hair was sticky and messy, unlike the hair Konan had seen and stroked when Sakura was first brought into the base.

"Konan-sama, may we know why everyone was gathering at the living room just now?" Ino asked, curiosity flickering in her azure eyes, "Who were they, anyway?"

Konan was silent for a few minutes, carefully constructing the sentence before replying, "My dear girls, before I answer that, let me tell you something. Kisame, Itachi and I are part of an organization called the Akatsuki. We—"

Sakura had raised a hand, "Excuse me, Konan-sama, but what's an organization?"

"Well…it's like…a group of people, like a…club," If the situations were different, Konan would be laughing out loud. How _pathetic _it was to describe the dark organization—_the _Akatsuki—as a _club! Embarassing! _However, she could not spare a smile. This was a serious matter.

She continued, "We consist of highly-skilled people and are well-known in the outside world. Sakura, Ino, you are lucky we did not decide to kill you. We have even decided to take you in and raise you. However, you must know, because we are doing a big favour for you, you must repay us."

She paused for the girls to process the information. She resumed a few minutes later, "I have divided the members of the Akatsuki into groups of three to train you girls into elite assassins. You must repay us by becoming members worthy of wearing the Akatsuki cloak. Do you understand?"

Silence fell upon them and they listened to the faint buzzing of the shower. Within minutes, the sound stopped—followed by a few flaps of a towel.

"Hinata will be coming out of there soon," Konan observed, before turning to the girls on the bed, "I will introduce you to your mentors as soon as you girls are settled in."

The door opened and Hinata stepped out, the towel wrapped around her. Her sticky and dirty clothes were clenched in a hand and dangled on the floor. She held it out towards Konan, "These are dirty. I couldn't wear them unless they're washed. Sorry, Konan-sama."

"No problem," The blue-haired woman smiled and took the clothes away from Hinata. She threw them into a basket next to the exit of the room before approaching her wardrobe. With an apologetic smile, she took out a black shirt, "This might be too big for you, but it's only until tomorrow morning."

Hinata wore the black shirt. The turtleneck collar loosely circled her neck , the long sleeves extended past her fingers whereas the shirt reached past her waist. Since she had nothing but her panties on, the shirt served more as a dress instead of a top to the eight-year-old.

She smiled, although most of it was hidden by the collar, "It's alright, Konan-sama. This will do fine for tonight."

"Okay, my turn," Sakura entered the bathroom next and the soft buzzing sound returned.

Ino quickly explained everything Konan had told her to Hinata.

Ten minutes later, Sakura exited the bath—pants on, shirt off. Her red shirt was just as sticky and dirty as Hinata's and it joined the ravenette's clothes in the basket. The pink-haired girl soon wore the exact same shirt Hinata had on.

Ino finally walked into the bathroom.

"Are we sleeping here for tonight?" Sakura asked, pulling the collar down from her mouth.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean your room will be here," Konan paused, "You three will only be sleeping here for tonight. Tomorrow morning, after buying your clothes and getting some groceries, I'll introduce you to your own room."

Sakura's eyes met Hinata's. The excitement flickered in their eyes.

…

_.._

_._

_Children have the power to change people. A child can change the coldest man in the world into a loving father and drive an evil killer into remorse. _- Unknown

_._

_.._

…

Konan walked past the crowd. Her blue hair was in its usual hairstyle, adorned with a white paper rose. Her garments were black. In fact, if you haven't noticed it yet, black is the only colour allowed (by Pein) in her wardrobe.

As she looked down at the 'To Buy' list on the paper in her hands, three girls followed her. They skittered past the feet of the tall people in the crowd, joking around and giggling while they followed their new guardian.

The four members of the Akatsuki were walking through the daily market of the nearest village, in search of groceries and clothes for the latest additions of the organization. They walked for a little while longer until they found a stall selling childrens' clothes.

Konan approached the man at the stall.

"Hello, ma'am," The young man bowed slightly in respect at the sight of her, "How may I help you?"

"Hello," She replied with a smile. Sakura, Ino and Hinata huddled up behind her, staring at the stall keeper, wondering why they've stopped walking. Konan said, "Please keep my girls company for a while. Let them choose the clothes they like—it doesn't matter how many pairs they take."

The man nodded and she continued, "They could pick fifty pairs of clothes for all I care, as long as they pick an even amount of tops, bottoms, shoes and undergarment."

Konan ushered the girls toward the man and pointed to the girls' clothes, hung and displayed with a price tag, "Go pick out some clothes. I have to go get some groceries and I'll be back within thirty minutes. If you need any help, just ask this man, okay? Don't wander off anywhere else!"

The blue-haired woman, with some reluctance, left the girls at the clothes stall and went out to get some groceries. On her list were items such as milk, chocolate milk, meat, cheese, chocolate spread, bread, peanut butter spread, chicken, flour, more milk—and a whole lot of other things.

'_Men.' _Konan rolled her eyes.

Forty-five minutes later, Konan returned to the clothes stall, a basket (brought from home) hanging from her arm, containing the groceries on her list. Sakura, Hinata and Ino were sitting beside a stack of neatly-folded clothes, about as tall as Hinata was.

"They've picked out their clothes, I see," Konan chuckled as the man placed the picked-out shoes in a small box, "Do arrange their clothes according to which girl picked them. That way it would be easier to organize once we get home."

Once everything was settled and ready, each girl carried two boxes—one large, one small. The large one contained the clothes they picked, whereas the small one contained the shoes of their choice.

"Be careful, girls," Konan admonished as they proceeded to make their way through the crowd. The girls walked in a line, walking carefully as the boxes reached up to their nose.

Konan walked ahead of them, humming to herself and thinking of a snack to buy for the girls. In fact, Sakura, Hinata and Ino were quiet this time, unlike the starting of their journey—where the trio joked, giggled and occasionally chased after each other.

It was probably because of the boxes they carried. Some may think it was harsh for the eight-year-olds to be carrying the heavy boxes of the clothes and shoes they picked, but to Konan, it was a good exercise, considering they were set to be future S-rank criminals.

She walked for another ten minutes and she reached the end of the market. She stopped and bit the insides of her cheek—how were they going to return to the Akatsuki base now?

Earlier in the day, Konan had brought the girls out of the base to begin their journey to the nearest village. The four members walked from their base to the entrance gate and this had costed them the whole morning. Now it was afternoon—how could the girls stand walking in the blazing heat while carrying heavy boxes?

"Wait here, girls," Konan said, turning around, "I'll call Deida—"

She froze.

There was nobody behind her.

Realization came slowly. Her eyes widened—anxiety pervaded her body—her brain finally grasped what had happened.

The basket dropped and groceries tumbled out. Konan ran into the crowd.

'_Shit!' _Konan cursed herself, her amber eyes frantically searching for her three girls, _'Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit!'_

She stopped and called out, "Sakura!"

Some people in the crowd turned to look at her as though she was mad. She continued to shout, "Ino! Hinata! Where are you? Answer me!"

"Who're you looking for, miss?" A middle-aged man behind a stall asked.

"M-My girls," Konan sputtered quickly. Her voice was riddled with fear and anxiety, "Where are they? They were…j-just behind me!"

"Relax, ma'am," The man tried to calm her.

Konan felt as though she was wasting time talking to him. She bolted off deeper into the market.

She stopped when she realized something was in the way.

The large cardboard box was resting on its left. The flaps were open and the contents spilled out onto the path—and Konan's heart stopped when she realized what they were. It was children's clothes. The clothes especially for female children consisted mainly of white and red clothing.

A small box was nearby. Although the flaps were open, none of its contents had fallen out. Konan approached it, only to find shoes in the box.

"_Sakura,_" Konan realized and hoarsely whispered to herself. She turned to the nearest stall and asked the vendor, "Excuse me, but who dropped this box? Was it a girl with pink hair? Was she with two other girls?"

The man at the stall looked rather stunned to be suddenly asked with so many questions, but he recovered quickly and replied tersely, "Yes, ma'am. They went there," He pointed into the direction opposite the exit of the market.

Konan was grateful, but had no time to show it. Immediately, she dashed into the said direction and ran past the crowd.

She had no idea how long she ran. It could've been ten or twenty minutes, or it could only have been two. The worry made her lose track of time and the things around her. Her only objective was to find her three girls.

Finally, she stopped and made a last attempt to call out their names.

She fell silent. She listened—hoping for someone to answer her. The noisy market was no longer noisy to her. The shouts from vendors and frivolous conversations from the crowd turned into faint mumuring. Konan was focused on listening to a response.

She heard a faint shout in the distance.

The anxiety lessened and her heavy breathing reduced slightly. Her lips curved upwards at the slight hint of hope and she dashed off in the direction of the reply. She called out again.

"Konan-sama!" Konan's head swiveled to the right and she moved swiftly, "Konan-sama! We're here! Konan-sama!"

She saw them.

To say she was relieved was an understatement. The trio were together by the side of a stall belonging to two women. Hinata was crouching, crying, whereas Sakura was hugging her. Ino, on the other hand, was the one who responded to Konan's cry.

Ino ran towards her.

Konan dropped to her knees and trapped Ino in a tight hug. Sakura jumped on them, joining in on the squeeze.

"You girls…" Konan whispered so softly, Ino and Sakura wouldn't have heard it if they weren't so close to her.

She released them as Hinata stood up, sobbing and mumuring, to approach her. When the ravenette was close enough Konan wrapped her arms around her. When Hinata cried on her shoulder, she grinned.

Hinata calmed down a few minutes later and they parted.

"Where did you girls go?" Konan gave them a small frown.

"Sakura tripped. Hinata and I set our boxes down to help her up, and by the time she got on her feet, you were gone," Ino offered an explanation, "The crowd made us confused and we didn't know from which direction we came from nor did we know which direction we were heading. We panicked and…well, Sakura left her boxea behind to follow us."

"Where are _your_ boxes?" Konan's question was meant for Ino and Hinata.

"Over there," Hinata pointed to the two boxes sitting by the side of the stall.

The blue-haired woman was silent for a while.

"I'm so glad you three are safe," Konan said finally and turned to Sakura. She smiled calmly and stroked her pink hair, "Sakura, please be more careful next time. Elite members must not trip over pebbles."

"I'm sorry, Konan-sama," The emerald-eyed girl smiled sheepishly.

Just then, the man who Konan had talked to earlier—the one who pointed in the girls' direction—approached them, Sakura's box full of clothes in his hands. He smiled heartily as he set the box down, "I see you've found your girls, ma'am."

Konan just smiled, "Yes, thanks to you. I'm very grateful."

"No worries, ma'am," He grinned as Sakura gasped happily at the sight of the clothes she had left behind. He studied the three girls—the pink-haired cutie, the beautiful blonde and the adorable ravenette.

"Some fine girls you have here, ma'am," The man said, glancing at the blue-haired beauty. In his eyes, Konan looked too young to have children and he asked, "Are they triplets?"

Konan was caught off guard by the question. Did he _really_ think these three girls were her children? The thought made her want to laugh. Sakura, Ino and Hinata beared no resemblance to Konan, did they? They didn't even bear a resemblance to each other!

Konan started to giggle. The man pulled on a confused face and sputtered, "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"Oh, no, you didn't," Konan stopped and smiled. She stood up and pulled out her purse from her pocket. Taking out a small pouch, she gave it to the man, "Here, please take it as a token of my gratitude. Thank you so much."

The man was surprised to see such a large amount of money, "Oh no! That amount is too much! I—"

Konan insisted he take it, in which he reluctantly did. She smiled and told the trio to wait by the stall. As they complied, the amber-eyed woman turned to the man, "And, yes, they _are _triplets. They're a very bizzare bunch."

"Yes, they indeed are," The man agreed, "You're very lucky, ma'am."

With that, the man bid farewell.

Konan took out her phone and dialed for Deidara and Sasori. There was no way her three girls were gonna carry those heavy boxes in the merciless blazing heat of the day, despite the fact they were set to be future S-rank criminals.

A few minutes later, she ended the call, knowing Deidara and Sasori would be at the market within ten minutes.

"What happened to your groceries, Konan-sama?" Sakura asked, noticing the basket was missing from Konan's arms.

"Oh, I dropped them," Konan said casually, "Deidara and Sasori are coming here. They're gonna be bringing your boxes and gonna be picking up the groceries. We'll just have to wait for them."

"Okay, Konan-sama," Hinata nodded.

Ino started a conversation with Sakura. Konan watched the girls giggle and talk.

She took the free time to ponder of her actions. Looking back, it was rather silly of her to be so worried over the girls. Why should she be? They had only arrived at the base the night before. So why did she panic? Why was she so disoriented? She was always cold and calm, just like Pein. She always handled situations with a straight face, cool and serene.

The sight of the defenceless girls had somehow softened her heart. They had somehow persuaded her to show her softer side. Every woman had that feeling and wish to love and nurture. Konan was not excluded. It didn't matter if she was a skilled kunoichi.

Maybe these girls were her chance. They were her chance to love and nurture.

She smiled and remembered the man's words. He was right—she _was _lucky. _They were her triplets._

_._

Sakura, Ino and Hinata followed their new guardian through a dark, torch-lit hallway. It was eerie and scary for them, but their journey did not last long. Just a few doors away from Konan's room, the blue-haired woman leading them stopped.

"Here we are," She unlocked a door and slid it open. She flicked a switch on and stepped inside, followed by the three girls. Konan spoke as they gasped in excitement, "Deidara and Sasori put you clothes and shoes in here. You girls organize them in the wardrobe by yourselves, alright?"

The room was twice the size of Konan's, rectangular instead of square, the walls painted greyish-white, and the floor light grey concrete. Three single beds with black sheets and blankets rest separated from each other at one side of the room. Floor lamps occupied the two empty spaces between the three beds.

The wardrobe was next to the bathroom door whereas the boxes containing the girls' clothes and shoes sat next to the wardrobe. The lights in the room were working well and the room occupied no mirror.

"We've never used this room before," Konan said as the girls claimed their beds. Sakura took the one at the far right, Ino claimed the one on the far left, whereas Hinata was left with only one option—to take the one in the center.

"B-But, I don't like the center bed!" She whined in her fragile voice, "It's scary! I feel unprotected if I sleep in the center. I want one that's close to the walls!"

"You were too slow, Hinata!" Ino laughed.

Konan chuckled as Hinata continued to whine.

"Girls, organize your clothes and adjust to this room, okay?" Konan spoke with a smile, interrupting them, "I know the hallways are scary but my room is just six doors away from your room, just in case you need any help."

"But all the doors are just the same!" Sakura complained, "They're all brown and they all slide open! How're we supposed to know which door belongs to which room?"

"Yeah, that's true," Konan nodded, "In order to know which door belongs to your room, just count. From the base of this hideout, there are two hallways opposite each other—one on the left and one on the right. The one on the right has the doors leading to _my _room, a bunch of unoccupied bedrooms, some special rooms and _your _room _only. _The one on the left contains the bedrooms of the male members."

The girls were silent. Konan continued, "Once you enter the hallway on the right, the first door you see will be the Medication Room, where we treat injured members. The next door to that would be a very large room with a dozen beds, where injured members convalensce. Two doors after the second one is my bedroom."

"And…six doors after _your _bedroom is ours," Ino guessed, and Konan nodded.

"Anyway, now you get it," The blue-haired woman turned around and proceeded for the exit, "I'll be back in an hour. I want you girls to organize your clothes and shoes in the wardrobe and take a bath. After that, I'll introduce you to the members of the Akatsuki."

The three girls nodded.

"Understood, Konan-sama!" Sakura chirped cheerfully.

…

_.._

_._

_Children find everything in nothing; men find nothing in everything. _-Giacomo Leopardi

_._

_.._

…

**A/N: **My average is posting a chapter within three months or so. If you want a chapter within the next month then please post a review! :D

Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration=Faster Updates


End file.
